1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, and more specifically, to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device having a dual gate.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The line pitch of semiconductor integrated circuits has been scaled down to a submicron level in order to improve operation characteristics and integration. This size reduction effectively reduces the space between adjacent gate lines used to form the semiconductor integrated circuit in a MOS transistor. Accordingly, a parasitic capacitance between the gate lines is increased, resulting in deterioration of the integrated circuit""s signal transmission rate. The signal transmission rate depends on delay time which is determined by the resistance (R) of the gate line, and parasitic capacitance (C) between the gate lines.
For the purpose of increasing the signal transmission rate, the resistance in the gate line must be reduced or the parasitic capacitance must be decreased, e.g., by widening the space between the gate lines. Because extending the space between the gate lines has negative effects on circuit integration, a reduction of the resistance is preferred. For this reason, the gate has been conventionally formed of a polycide which results from depositing a silicide on a highly doped polysilicon layer.
As a CMOS transistor is highly integrated, the size of its NMOS and PMOS transistors is reduced, and their characteristics are deteriorated due to short channel effect and hot carrier effect. To solve this problem, the NMOS and PMOS transistors have been formed with a lightly doped drain (LDD) structure, and N-type impurities are highly doped into the gate of the NMOS and PMOS transistors. Thus, the channel of the PMOS transistor is formed in the bulk, not on the substrate. This produces punchthrough, decreasing the breakdown voltage.
Alternatively, a dual-gate CMOS transistor is proposed, in which the PMOS transistor has a highly doped P+-type gate, and the NOS transistor has a highly doped N+-type gate. With this structure, the channel of the PMOS transistor is formed on the surface of the substrate. Thus the breakdown voltage caused by the punchthrough is prevented from being decreased. The gate of the dual-gate CMOS transistor is also formed of the polycide consisting of a highly doped polysilicon and silicide. This prevents the signal transmission rate from being deteriorated in response to increased circuit integration.
However, in this structure, the impurity that is highly doped into the polysilicon is diffused into the silicide during high temperature process.
Furthermore, since impurity""s diffusitivity in the silicide is higher than that in the polysilicon, the diffused impurity is laterally diffused in the silicide. Accordingly, the N-type and P-type impurities of the N+ polysilicon and P+ polysilicon are mutually diffused through the silicide, changing the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor. A technique for preventing the change of the threshold voltage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,669, xe2x80x9cIntegrated circuit fabricationxe2x80x9d, by Kuo-Hua Lee et al.
FIGS. 1A to 1E show a conventional process of fabricating a semiconductor device. Referring to FIG. 1A, P-type and N-type impurities are sequentially doped into a substrate 11, to form a P-well 13 and N-well 15. A field oxide layer 17, for electrically isolating single elements from each other, is formed where P-well 13 and N-well 15 come into contact with each other, through a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) process.
Referring to FIG. 1B, thermal oxidation is performed on the surface of P-well 13 and N-well 15, forming a gate oxide layer 19. Undoped polysilicon or amorphous silicon is deposited on field oxide layer 17 and gate oxide layer 19 through chemical vapor deposition (CVD), to form a silicon layer. N-type impurities such as As or P are ion-implanted in higher concentration into a portion of the silicon layer, corresponding to P-well 13 to form a N-type polysilicon layer 21, and P-type impurities like B or BF2 are ion-implanted in higher concentration into a portion of the silicon layer corresponding to N-well 15 to form a P-type polysilicon layer 22. A refractory metal silicide layer 23, such as tungsten silicide (WSix), is formed on N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 using CVD.
Referring to FIG. 1C, silicide layer 23, and N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 are sequentially patterned through photolithography, to form a contact hole 25 exposing field oxide layer 17. Contact hole 25 is formed at a position where N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 come into contact with each other. Referring to FIG. 1D, TiN is deposited on silicide layer 23 through CVD, to form a diffusion stop layer 27. FIG. 1D shows a cross-section taken along line 1Dxe2x80x941D of FIG. 1C. As shown in the cross-section, a contact hole 25 is also formed in diffusion stop layer 27 above field oxide layer 17.
Referring to FIG. 1E, diffusion stop layer 27, silicide layer 23, N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22, and gate oxide layer 19 are patterned, through photolithography, to expose portions of wells 13 and 15, and field oxide layer 17. N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 do not come into contact with each other, but they are electrically connected through diffusion stop layer 27. That is, N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 are separated from each other, and diffusion stop layer 27 is formed therebetween using a mask aligned to contact hole 25 during the photolithography process. Thus, the impurities doped into the polysilicon layers 21 and 22 are prevented from being mutually diffused.
N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22, together with diffusion stop layer 27 and silicide layer 23 formed thereon, become gates 28 and 29 of NMOS and PMOS transistors. N-type impurities such as As or P, and P-type impurities like B or BF2 are respectively ion-implanted in higher concentration into P-well 13 and N-well 15, to thereby form impurities regions 31 and 33. Since the N-type and P-type polysilicon layers 21 and 22 are separated from each other and the diffusion stop layer 27 is formed therebetween, the polysilicon layers 21 and 22 are electrically connected, but the impurities doped thereinto are not mutually diffused. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the threshold voltage from being changed.
However, the above-described conventional method requires a first mask for isolating the N-type and P-type polysilicon layers from other (FIG. 1D), and a second mask for patterning them in order to form the gate (FIG. 1E). Thus, it is difficult to align the gate patterning mask and the contact hole. Furthermore, the diffusion stop layer as well as the polysilicon layers should be etched when the gate is patterned. This complicates the process.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, which performs isolation of N-type and P-type polysilicon layers from each other and patterns them for the purpose of forming a gate, using one mask.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, which simplifies etching process during a gate patterning process, to thereby reduce the number of process step.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a method of fabricating a semiconductor device including the steps of forming a well of a first conductivity type and a well of a second conductivity type in a substrate, forming a field oxide layer and a gate oxide layer on the substrate, forming first and second position layers to contact the another on the field oxide layer and the gate oxide layer, and isolating the first and second polysilicon layers and forming first and second gates.
At least a portion of the first polysilicon layer is doped with impurities of a second conductivity type, and at least a portion of the second polysilicon layer is doped with impurities of a first conductivity type. The portion of the first polysilicon layer that is doped with impurities of the second conductivity type corresponds to a first well having first conductivity type, and the portion of the second polysilicon layer that is doped with impurities of the first conductivity type corresponds to a second well having second conductivity type. The first and second polysilicon layers may be formed by depositing a formative layer on the field oxide layer and the gate oxide layer, doping a portion of the formative layer corresponding to the first well with impurities of second conductivity type, and doping a portion of the formative layer corresponding to the second well with impurities of first conductivity type. The formative layer includes at least one of an undoped polysilicon and an amorphous silicon. The method may also include the steps of forming a first impurity region by doping impurities of second conductivity type into the first well, and forming a second impurity region by doping impurities of first conductivity type into the second well.
Additional steps used to form the semiconductor device may include forming a conductive layer between the first and second gates by depositing a conductive material on the field oxide layer and the gate oxide layer, and on and between the first and second gates, and then etching the conductive material to form the conductive layer between the first and second gates. The conductive layer is formed of a material having conduction and diffusion stop characteristics. A silicide layer may also be formed on the first and second polysilicon layers, the silicide layer being formed of a refractory metal silicide selected from W, Co, Ti, Ta, Mo, Pt or Ni.
The present invention also includes a semiconductor device produced from the above methods, and a semiconductor device including a substrate, doped impurity regions positioned on the substrate and functioning as source and drain regions, a gate oxide layer and a field oxide layer positioned on the substrate, first and second gates positioned on the gate oxide layer, and a conductive layer positioned between the first and second gates.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.